Alphabet to invest $75 billion in AI-driven data centres despite trade war risks, CEO Sundar Pichai confirms

Alphabet is pushing forward with its ambitious artificial intelligence plans, reaffirming it will invest approximately $75 billion this year to expand its data centre infrastructure, even as escalating trade tensions and investor pressure threaten to complicate the road ahead.

Speaking at Google Cloud’s annual conference, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai positioned the investment as essential to powering the company’s next wave of generative AI innovation, particularly models like Gemini, which are central to Google’s evolving AI strategy.

“The opportunity with AI is as big as it gets,” said Pichai. “Getting advances into the hands of both consumers and enterprises is something we are really focused on.”

Alphabet had initially outlined the $75 billion figure in February, a figure that came in nearly 30% above Wall Street estimates at the time. The budget will cover everything from chips and servers to networking hardware, all necessary to support both core services like Search and the scaling of AI-powered enterprise tools.

The timing of the announcement comes against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty. U.S. President Donald Trump recently said he would temporarily ease new tariffs imposed on dozens of countries—news that sent Alphabet’s shares nearly 10% higher. However, Trump also hinted at intensifying pressure on China, a key player in the global chip supply chain, adding volatility to long-term tech investment planning.

Alphabet isn’t alone in its spending spree. Microsoft revealed this week it will spend more than $80 billion in 2025 on data centre infrastructure. Meta has committed up to $65 billion to its AI ambitions.

Since the breakout success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, Big Tech firms have been locked in an arms race to dominate generative AI. But as capital expenditures soar, investors are increasingly asking when these billions will translate into meaningful returns.

Still, Pichai remains confident that Alphabet’s strategy will pay off.